A United Kingdom travel ban on incoming passenger flights from the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has spurred fresh fears for stranded Australians relying on Emirates and Etihad flights to get home.
The United Arab Emirates carriers are among the few airlines still flying to Australia due to caps on returning overseas arrivals and an almost year-long international travel ban.
Visitors arriving from the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda will be banned from entering the United Kingdom from 11pm on Thursday (AEST) as the government takes urgent action to prevent the spread of a highly-contagious COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa.
There will also be a flight ban on direct passenger flights from the United Arab Emirates, after authorities said the new variant may have spread to the country.
In response to the announcement on Friday, the Australian consulate in London tweeted the government was working with Emirates and Etihad to “understand the impact on outbound travel from the UK”.
The ban is likely to be a blow to thousands of Australians stranded in the United Kingdom who recently found themselves stranded once again after Emirates announced it would cancel services to Australia due to reduced caps on returning travellers.
Emirates revoked the decision days after announcing it, but not before hundreds of Australians had their flights home cancelled.
Approximately 38,000 Australians stuck overseas have told the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) they wish to return, according to government figures.
“We have a prime minister who told people that he would get them home by Christmas last year – he did not do so,” Penny Wong, Labor’s spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, told ABC News on Friday.
“We have a government led by Mr Morrison which has refused to step up to ensure a safe national quarantine system, and until he does that, we will continue to see these sorts of events which prevent Australian citizens from coming home.”
DFAT has been contacted for comment.
